As we come up on the 16th annual Folsom East fair this weekend, we hear from an anonymous resident of 540 West 28th (the +ART building) that those dire predictions may already be coming true. Folsom East and the Eagle, he tells us, are not long for this rapidly changing world.

2011: High Line tourists pointing at Folsom-goers

Construction began on the +ART building in 2008, when there was nothing on that block except for a gay bar, a strip club, a scrap yard, a truck yard, and some autobody shops. Our anonymous interviewee has lived there for the past year. He bought the condo because he, like many of his neighbors, was attracted to "the building, view of the river, wide open space, proximity to Chelsea Piers, High Line, and the Hudson River Park."

I asked him some questions and he provided us with an inside look into how the new condo dwellers of the High Line are forcing change on the once-wild, westernmost hinterlands of Chelsea.

Q: What is the prevailing opinion about the Folsom East fair among your neighbors--how do people talk about the fair?

A: It's a mixed bag. The primary issue is the zero access to the building without walking through the fair itself where lewd conduct and nudity isn't uncommon. Those with children find it particularly difficult.

Q: In what way have the neighbors organized, and what is your goal in terms of the fair--do you want it to stop running, move to another block? What are the neighbors doing to meet this goal?

A: Residents from several surrounding buildings have passed fliers asking our residents to write to the Community Board to relocate or totally eliminate Folsom Street East because "fetish" fairs shouldn't be allowed so close to so many residential buildings. There's word that a petition of some sort will be circulated but I'm not exactly sure what the details are.

A letter was written to the Community Board asking how they can assure residents access to the building without having to walk through the fair itself. Another suggestion was to move it to the next block where it's bordered (for now) by commercial on two sides, Con Ed to the north, and West Street.

The primary issue for us at 540 W 28th isn't the Eagle or even Folsom Street East. It's allowing residents access to the building without having to go through the fair itself. Other residents of the surrounding buildings and even my own building may have additional concerns with regard to the lewd conduct and nudity in full view from their units.

Q: Were you aware of the fair's presence before you bought property here? [The fair's been running for 16 years.]

A: Yes... It's only once a year.

Q: What about the Eagle and Scores? It's hard to imagine those lasting on 28th with the new Avalon West Chelsea going in. How long do you think they will last?

A: I can't speak for all residents but a group of us would like them to stay. We've gotten to know the bouncers and they always say hello or play with our dogs. The crowd that gathers outside of the Eagle is always very nice, and the clientele at Scores really just get out of their cars and zip right inside. No loitering in front for the most part. Having the bouncers out front also gives us an additional level of security. Sure, you'll always have those that will be obnoxious or use the side of our building as a urinal but doesn't that happen just about everywhere in NYC?

I did hear that this summer may be the Eagle's last which would be a shame. I hope they reconsider. [Note: To this, the Eagle says, "Don't listen to rumors."] With the addition of 700+ units in Avalon Chelsea, it may be a matter of whether or not Scores or Eagle even want to be there. I give it a year. Construction across the street is going at a rather fast pace.

Queer, kinky, weird New York is vanishing at an astonishing rate--as fast as the new condos are being constructed along the High Line's glamorous flanks. Folsom Street East and the Eagle are the last vestiges of a once-thriving queer leather scene in Chelsea, one that not so long ago stretched across the Meatpacking District, up and down the far west side.

In 2009, the New York Leather Weekend was canceled when the Standard Hotel and the Food & Wine Festival complained to the city, successfully ousting the queers from MePa's sacred cobblestone streets. I have no doubt that the people of West 28th Street's new condos will eventually win the fight against Folsom the same way--and, apparently, no one is even trying to stop them.

57 comments:

Anonymous
said...

It's difficult to see how "this summer may be the Eagle's last" given how desolate and unattractive the block will be to new condo buyers for the next two years. Once the Avalon construction reaches over the top of the scaffolding, no one will want to buy because nearly 4/5 of the north side of the block will be undergoing massive transformation. And existing owners will doubtless learn the Eagle and Scores aren't the bane of their existence; instead, it's Avalon and the generic pastel lifestyle it peddles.

Makes perfect sense - move somewhere where you know something exists already, decide you don't like it, and throw a tantrum so mommy will remove it and make everything all better. Gotta love the people that move somewhere to trade on the reputation it earned, and then decide to force the people out who helped create that reputation. But we have to think of THE CHILDREN!!!! Poor little things! They will be scarred for life if they have to walk past a guy in leather chaps on the way to the fortified compound. I think the best solution is to get rid of anybody who wouldn't make the cut of a SATC film, hold a huge Carrie Bradhsaw costume party, and have the winner toss artisanal cupcakes from the High Line down to her adoring fans. After all, that's the urban experience they signed up for when they signed the lease.

I have no idea how endangered the fetish parade really is, but then I'm surprised its lasted as long as it has. My thoughts about this are about the same as my thoughts on the San Gennaro feast. I'd much rather live in a city that had both. But the Italians moved out to Staten Island and New Jersey some time ago, and it would have been better for their celebration to have moved as well, instead of becoming a pale shadow of itself that does little more than annoy the new residents of the neighborhood. The fetish fair should move to wherever the gay community now lives.

The ad executives, law firm partners, and bankers who a few decades ago lived in the suburbs have decided that they want to live in the central city. They have the power to remake the central city in their image, just like they remade the farms and small cities that used to be on the outskirts in their image. Everyone else better clear out to make way.

In total agreement with JAZ and Crazy Eddie, as always. If you want to protect your children, move to Peoria, it's safe as milk there (to quote Captain Beefheart) and they can work at WalMart when they grow up.

@Unknown: You sound really boring. How is having a family type environment more economically beneficial? The gays have the most disposable income, and the fair brings in out of towners which actually is "economically beneficial".

"The ad executives, law firm partners, and bankers who a few decades ago lived in the suburbs have decided that they want to live in the central city. They have the power to remake the central city in their image, just like they remade the farms and small cities that used to be on the outskirts in their image. Everyone else better clear out to make way."

And for many, many decades before that, the ad executives, law firm partners, and bankers did live in the central city. So I suppose they originally made it in their image, someone else remade it in the '50s-'80s when the bankers, etc. decamped to the suburbs, and now they are remaking it as they return.

I'm not sure what to respond to, but I'm going to try and stick to the topic of regional image crafting.

I was alive during "The Bronx is Burning" era when the money-men decided to skip out and head for the edges of the suburbs. What was left behind was a huge swath of wreckage, decay and filth. The minorities (such as myself)and societal fringe elements came and remade it to their liking, but this is because nobody was there in such a mass that it became a serious issue. Somebody's gotta use the empty spaces after all.

Now the new image branding that's occurring is not happening in a decimated and depopulated wasteland, but in thriving and vibrant areas that were already at critical mass; where each block could have it's own separate culture, entertainments and identity. The blocks are being cleared out now for people that feel like they have a right to disturb the residents of areas they've (or their parents) abandoned. This smacks of rich, W.A.S.P. entitlement to me. "I want this shiny for myself now, so give it to me and go away somewhere else."

Nice to see Tony Perkins (Unknown 11:09 AM) chime in. And as far as the Folsom East Festival is concerned, what the fuck is wrong with leather chaps anyway? Isn’t the Cowboy the all American role model? And as for that famous Montgomery Clift and John Ireland conversation in "Red River", well, we will let the scene speak for itself.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQmaLlmutlY

Can't there be some areas of this vast city that are not "child-safe" and "family-friendly"?

I'm really tired of the trend of having all activities of adults being held hostage all over this town to the standards of what's considered "safe" for 5-year-olds by their uptight parents. And to have to have every activity and establishment made "child-friendly" so we can experience the joy of having people's little sprogs running around everywhere at all hours.

I'm a city kid of the '60s and '70s and I wasn't damaged by my limited exposure to this sort of thing (in fact, quite the opposite). But now tolerant and diverse city-people are suddenly all expected to uphold the "family-friendly" standards of the white-bread suburban-raised.

Seriously, isn't this what the suburbs were built for? Why not live there if you're so concerned?

there are 2 sides here. how many people knew about the fetish fair when buying the condo?? if they did know, they have no right to complain. if most didnt i see the point. personally i would not want to see this. i dont want anything "in my face", gay straight what ever. i dont know how many days this fair goes on? & does it bring more crowds? IF its more than 2 days, & the real estate agents did not inform to buyers- then i see their point. gays will always find a new place! theyre here theyre queer, & there will be a new greenwich village/chelsea.

comment #2: i just read the interview again. if people used the side of my building as a urinal, i would go to the mayors office. thats buxxshxt, thats not acceptable in upscale areas in new york. time to move the leather fair. hate me for this, im used to it.

Its happening everywhere. Up here in Boston, we just celebrated Gay Pride, but I noticed something was missing. In previous years, Pride Week was kicked off by the Pridelights tree lighting ceremony On Tremont Street - at Clarendon, which used to be ground zero for the gay South End community. A giant tree was lit with hundreds of pink lights for Pride. There were drag queen performers, comedians and politicians, not to mention hundreds of the gays.

At some point in the last couple of years, the tree lighting ceremony was moved to Club Cafe, a gay bar somewhat far removed from gay ground zero, and with only small saplings on which to throw a few lights. Not very impressive.

Why this move? Well, at around the same time, a certain restaurant which appeals apparently to the suburban Lily Pulitzered, valet-parking crowd, expanded its outdoor dining area to include the portion of the plaza right beneath the tree. There were mumblings that it had to do with electrical lines, etc.

However, at Christmas time, that very tree is lit up with hundreds of multi-colored Christmas light, no problem. Apparently, the diners uber-hetero suburb-in-the-city restaurant should not have to face 3-400 gay men and a couple of drag queens one freakin' night a year.

If these people are so sensitive to viewing others not like themselves, then why don't they just stay in Wellesley or New Jersey or the like? There are plenty of Panera Breads out there for them and they won't have to see gay men unless their sons or husbands come out.

This is the 16th year the fair has taken place and the eighth time it’s been on 28th Street, The first eight years it was anchored on West 13th Street and it was eventually crowded out (as was the LURE) and it moved north. It was always meant to be just a tad transgressive with leather/fetish folks out in their finest in the sunshine.

I’ve read a dozen articles in the last year about how horribly homogeneous street fairs are in the city. There are no tube socks, pillows, or mops for sale at Folsom Street East. The other big difference with FSE is that it’s an all-volunteer effort and with tens of thousands of dollars being raised and donated to local worthy charities.

It lasts for just 5 hours (plus a couple hours on either side spent cleaning what is usually a filthy block) just one day a year. You could spend the afternoon shopping at the mall, catch a movie, and then dinner at Applebee’s and never know we were on ‘your’ block.

WOW. People are so easily offended these days. I don't hold too much hope for the future if everyone keeps getting their feelings hurt by the thought of men strolling around in assless chaps and people pissing on the side of buildings. Seriously. I thought Americans were made of tougher stock than that. When did we turn into such pussies?

LAAAAUUUUURRRRAAAA...I'm looking in your direction...wouldn't you be happier in Scarsdale? You're not going to find that kind of icky stuff there unless you go looking for it.

As for the regular commenters on this blog...Things are changing underneath you. Get out there and start claiming some weird space as yours again. Find some bar or restaurant or any other scene in New New York and make it your new hang out. Invite your friends, your money is just as green as anyone else's.

I wish I could have heard the conversation of those folks taking pictures from the highline.

I find comment like this, "If you want to protect your children, move to Peoria, it's safe as milk there (to quote Captain Beefheart) and they can work at WalMart when they grow up." to be indicative of a great deal of anger and intolerance, not to mention just plain meanness.

Not everyone can or wants to leave NYC (I was born here and will never leave, but I don't LOVE everything that's happened in the past few years), and this is a city that has always be home to all kinds of people.

While I am not enamored of the Folsom-genre of events, and I don't attend or patronize them, I also don't readily accept the anger of people who are so threatened by change. I, too, fear the changes in my beloved neighborhood, but there's little that can be done to stanch the huge growth downtown, as well as the eternal interest in living here—by those with and without the means to do so.

It's not going to change, but dammit, you don't have to be so &*(#$& nasty about people not wanting to live with something they find offensive. Live and let live.

can we have T-Shirts pleez of that NYFingCity graphic? i'd like an all purpose one not just for Folsom but just with lots of custom frases like, "cuz Fran L. sez so.." cuz Lenny B. sez so.. and so on... somebody make them! but i guess there's iron ons you can print on special paper and iron on a shirt. we could all do our own DIY shirts.

J - really you should do that and make your own Welcome to NY now get out kind of shirt..! sure those decal kinda paper things are online...

Anon @ 9:00 PM, you have it wrong. It's not "anger and intolerance" that people here are showing - it's anger AT intolerance.

I find it much more &*(#$& nasty and offensive that someone in a neighborhood they just moved into would feel entitled to impose their will and values on people and institutions that were there long before they arrived, simply because of their relative wealth.

The crimes that have been perpetrated against our community in the name of protecting THE CHILDREN! Meanwhile, our children get bullied to death. What it boils down to is this - straight people think their shtupping is better than our shtupping because their shtupping leads to overpopulation. Go figure. The funny thing is how many of these hetero-supremicists would deny they are homophobic, yet they will take their children to Jones Beach where just as much flesh is exposed - it is clearly the homoerotic context that bothers them. They like gay people as long as we behave and look just like them, accepting their hegemony in every aspect of life. Hypocrites.

I'm not gonna say that there isn't homophobia out there, but there is a big difference between public and private shtupping, Kevin. How well would the neighborhood accept shutting down 8th Street for pole dancing and wet t-shit contests?

TINY TIM: IM STRAIGHT, you better get used to it. & darling, i AM a regular on this board, you better get used to that too. KEVIN DONOHUE: whats up w/the queer adoptions, the surrogate mother for the 2 married men? pleeese.......you guys "were" the original swinging singles, you paved the way for.....carrie???? now i see you all want to be accepted by the local PTA. you want it from the front & you want it from the back, make up your minds. i read the NYTs & see public TV too, i know whats going on. theres nothing more repulsive than gays wanting to be straight. now that offends me! if you stay in your area, i'll stay in mine. a deal? speak, for for ever hold the peace. love & kisses, laura -your straight friend. (as ms franklin said, show some respect- just a little bit....)

Yet the highline and chelsea new residents welcome and would let their children see the practically naked SATC wannabes when going to club and bar hopping, brunching, and shopping esp. on hot humid days, wearing short short mini skirts sans underwear, see thru dresses without a bra almost on a nightly and daily basis. I have no problem with those almost naked women, neither do I have a problem with the Folsom fair. So 'Save the children' my ass; they kiss that ass. I hope more topless women would walk around highline and chelsea. I'd like to see these bankers and lawyers parents go huffin' and puffin' about that. Damn hypocrites.

Please - the children of the Carrie Bradshaw wannabes living in these highline-adjacent buildings are too busy drooling on themselves, or having screaming fits because the parents are too wrapped up in themselves to actually discipline the children. OR too lost in their smartphone games or texting to care about anyone in a see through cami OR a pair of assless chaps.

Its obvious that its the parents who are offended by the sight of human flesh not covered by a Lululemon yoga outift. And they tell temselves they moved to NY because of the diversity, because its edgy. They've got roughly 3,588 miles of USA to be Iowans or whatever. Stay the F"*& out of our 12 miles of NY.

It always stings when a group realizes they've been little more than a placeholder for a "more desirable", ie moneyed/powerful, group when that group decides to shatter the place where they live, work, or play, with little or no regard, deliberate or otherwise, for them. After decades of providing jobs, entertainment, services, etc. far west chelsea is suddenly a desirable residential destination for the fortunate few who can afford it. Until it isn't desirable for them anymore. Then, the same kind of people who made the far west side viable both economically and socially when no one else was interested in it have to figure out how to turn a trendy apartment building into something more useful. The current story of capitalism run amok.

Meanwhile, the developers of '+art' are selling "queer, kinky, weird New York."

Stenciled on the ground floor plate glass is something like Chelsea "invented bad behavior." The building's website urges "live loudly welcome home" (?) and includes this Angela Carter quote: "Cities have sexes: London is a man, Paris is a woman and New York is a well-adjusted transsexual."

SMH. The real-estate forces love to celebrate the very things they kill, like crowing about the charms of 'FloMa' a few avenues east, while the phalanx of 40-story apt. buildings along 6th eliminates the flower merchants and the charm.

Excuse me, but "One can't help but feel the undercurrent of homophobia running through this one...hardly live and let live."

I'm feeling an undercurrent of HETEROPHOBIA. What's wrong with us breeders? You wouldn't be here if someone didn't have you, so relax, people. And it's not just straight couples with children who are responsible for the changes that are coming to the area, it's capitalism and materialism and STUFF. Plenty of gay people have money and stuff and values, too. Relax.

ANON 12:20 pm 6/15: took the words out of my mouth. gay strollers? really. whats the solution for those folks? their own hoods? now THATS a new marketing slant. family friendly neighborhoods for gay parents. you heard it first here. ANON 11:25 6/14: there is something sinister about the black leather, & the way they wear it, w/the backsides cut out. you cant compare it to carrie bradshaw. if the gays on this blog are offended by carrie wanna be's, why cant straight people be offended by some of gay culture? i have no problem w/gay events, but as i said i wouldnt want it in my face. again, i wonder, how many people knew of this event before buying the condo? & dont assume people move to new york to be "edgy". they move for many reasons, dont flatter yourselves. they not there for you or peepee. as for peeing on the side of buildings? one commenter said, "thats new york"?? so wrong. he sounds like a kid from the midwest, maybe still in college. i lived in NYC most of my life no one ever pee'ed near my buildings. no one deserves that. whether they pay a million $ or live in a project. my gay friends would be @ bloomburg's & get the place shut down. their bodies may not be their temples, but their homes are. i wouldnt want to live near a sports bar or frat bar either. pee is pee. @least this event is once a year.

to add: O.M.G. the person who thinks pep pee is so new york, LIVES in the million $$$ condos! guess thats one neighbor who wont sign MY petition. i also see this event is only 5 hours? why not get portable bathrooms? you know what? dont always blame the condo buyers. i bet the real estate office told them "these places will be shut down, city is working on this" too bad in a way for the gay bars, as the water front has always been their domain.

can we please try to stay with what's really happening here? this block was the boondocks until a minute ago. it was a safe haven for a marginalized group of people, away from the conventional crowds, for years. no one who didn't want to see them ever saw them.

then Bloomberg and Burden rezoned this area. the High Line came in. people were evicted and put out of business so that luxury condo towers could rise. the people who move into those condos have zero respect for what came before them, for the people they are putting out. they consider certain classes of people to be trash, something to be discarded.

in this case, the "trash" happens to be queer, kinky men and women. it could just as easily be people in a homeless shelter or disabled senior citizens. the condo people will find a reason to have a problem, and they will push them out--all to create the ideal neighborhood that money can buy.

assholes with socioeconomic power move into neglected neighborhoods, take them over, and deliberately kick out the people who've been there for years before them.

let's not muddy the waters with crap about assless chaps and whatnot. this is cultural slaughter--and it's been going on since Bloomberg took office.

It all ends when the 'trash' culture and sub-culture have all been disposed. Then the ones remaining, the moneyed 'upper' culture will start eating each other until the 'fittest' of them survives.

This isn't' about straight vs. gays. It's about the non-marginalized majority, mostly upper moneyed class, vs. the marginalized 'lower' class, (lower in the eyes of the upper class and middle America). Mind you (not you JM, you as in all ), that there are gays out there who are against this fair and would rather have the SATC crowds. SATC afterall was created by a gay or the gays upper class. They see the Folsom Fair as beneath them. No different than these moneyed gentrifiers see the natives as beneath them and must be pushed out or disposed of. They all want a sterile environment to live that [only] money can buy.

What was especially outrageous about the cancelation in 2009 was that The Standard Hotel is infamous and even encourages exhibitionists to pout on a show in front of their floor to ceiling windows. In fact many suggest that the photos of nude exhibitionist guests posted online and in the NY Post may have even been staged by the hotel and their publicists to generate buzz. Crazy that they of all parties would complain about Folsom.

Interesting, though, that the hotel patrons above the Highline, putting on live sex shows in the windows, seem to be little more than a mere amusement to those who pass. Unless there was a crackdown on that, too, which I didn't hear about. Unfortunately, having lived in NYC for almost 40 years, change seems to be one of the few dependable things. In my opinion, it's too bad that most of the changes have been going in the "child-friendly" G-rated direction. Everything must be child-proofed now, and frankly, it irritates the crap out of me. It's OK, though, to have to jump out of the way in order to avoid being run down by oblivious A-type young mothers speed-walking with their strollers (weapons) while blindly multi-tasking on their cell phones. Go buy a house in Princeton and take your damn strollers with you. Yuk!

Q: Were you aware of the fair's presence before you bought property here? [The fair's been running for 16 years.]

A: Yes... It's only once a year.

By virtue of his buying a condo in some non-descript vertical yuppie ghetto, this moneyed-shithead feels that a street fair lasting only a few hours is intolerable to his sensiblities. So the street fair should just go away. Because HE doesn't like it.

Be careful what you ask for! Economic stability and recognition come at price. I don't care for it either, but times change. They replaced a strip club in Philly with a DAY CARE CENTER! They changed the Gayborhood to "Midtown Village"! There are rainbow markers on top of the street signs in the Gayborhood for crying out loud! OutFest in the fall closes off 3 square blocks. I have never seen a fenced off area for residents. It's certainly not FSE, but it's not the Iowa state fair, either.

The gentrification isn't worth biaching about much, its a done deal. I understand the need, but what the gay community needs is a plan. Let's call it PLAN G. There are gay men in new york as well as outside the city with more than enough money to develop an area comparable in size to west chelsea. If all the a-list fire island investor types would choose an area in say Queens or the Bronx, conveniently located near a highway entrance and a subway line, we could all move there and make it exactly like the bad ol' days we miss so much. Put in a bathhouse, a leather bar, a stripper bar, a twinkie disco and some greek diners and la voila—Ft. Lauderdale North. In the summer they could fill a side street with sand and make it a nude beach. Show a little imagination people grab a piece of the outer boros while they're still there. I don't want credit for this idea, I just want to live there. I'm even willing to rent if I can't afford to buy. If we are going to be poo-pooed by people pushing strollers then why not self-segregate. Face it, there's just too many of them.

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